Women Achieve Record Gender Parity in 2024's Top-Grossing Films

For the first time, women led or co-led as many top box office films as men, but racial representation declined significantly.

In 2024, 54% of the top 100 grossing films featured female leads or co-leads, marking the first year of gender parity in Hollywood's biggest movies.
This milestone reflects a sharp increase from 30% in 2023 and 20% in 2007, according to the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.
Despite progress for women, representation for people of color in leading roles fell from 37% in 2023 to 25% in 2024, far below their proportion in the U.S. population.
Ageism persists, with only eight films featuring women over 45 in leading roles, compared to 21 for men in the same age group.
Universal Pictures led studios in female representation, with 66.7% of its films featuring female protagonists, while Sony Pictures trailed at 38.5%.